Microsoft is licensing instant-messaging archiving technology from IMlogic Inc. to be embedded in some of its real-time communications software for enterprises, though it wouldn't specify which of those offerings would feature the capability. IMlogic's technology lets companies keep records of incoming and outgoing instant-message traffic and search, retrieve, and generate reports on these records.

Instant messaging is becoming as integral to many business communications as E-mail. Industry research group International Data Corp. forecasts that by 2004, more than 2 trillion instant messages will be generated between consumers and businesses. Unlike E-mail, however, the thread of an instant message is lost once the user closes the message window.

IMlogic is not the first vendor to develop archiving technology. Others, such as FaceTime Communications Inc., have created software that resides on corporate servers and intercepts and records instant messages that travel inside and outside the corporate firewall to public instant-messaging servers.